Bob was in the middle of a 6400 mile cross-country tour on his Harley, and we were honored that he chose to stop and see his. We’re also glad he took so many photos, and kindly shared them with us. Enjoy!

Of course, the photos have to start with Bob standing next to the wall of tribute we have for his mom (and Dad too).

He couldn’t resist having his picture taken with our 1954 Louisville Slugger that is personalized for George “Stormy” Kromer.

Next he posed with Kirsten, Customer Service Manager, and KJ, Division Manager.

In addition to the factory tour, he had to get some pics to our big hat statue. (Nice bike!)

Then, when he heard a few of us were working a booth at Loon Day, about 22 miles out of his way, he decided to check out what the event was all about, and get some more photos taken, this time with Gina.

Of course he had to celebrate his arrival into Michigan as well!

And if you’re wondering about the t-shirt he is wearing, check out this family photo with Laura in the middle and her kids surrounding her. I’d say Laura’s family is pretty darn proud of her. As they should be.

Nominations for the 2014 Living Legend will be opening in early October. Start thinking about who you think is worthy of this honor!

As I look back on my life’s journey, little did I know that the skills that I learned in my first part-time job would come full circle. Back in the 7th grade, I put together bicycles, strollers and wagons at my Uncle King’s five-and-dime store. My uncle encouraged me to meet and interact with the customers, even at that young age. I quickly learned that I loved meeting new people – learning from them, hearing their stories, and helping them with whatever they needed.

As an adult, in the early days of my work at Jacquart Fabric Products, I made custom boat covers and learned to upholster furniture – two more areas in which I worked directly with the end customer. I even began to pass my love of customer interaction on to my two daughters – they often came to work with me on Saturday mornings, where they learned to introduce themselves by looking people straight in the eye and shaking their hand.

Eventually, as JFP grew, I found myself working with the end customer less and less. I had other things to work on – building budgets and strategic plans, developing employees and creating an infrastructure that would support the company we were building.

The factory operates Monday through Friday, and therefore our tours are offered during the week. Our Factory Store has also followed that schedule. Last fall I decided to open our Factory Store on Saturdays, mainly to accommodate tourists who are visiting our area on the weekend. It proved to be a huge success.

For the most part, I am the only one working on Saturdays, and we’re open from about 9-12. The folks who come in on Saturdays tend to be very passionate about our brand and usually have great stories to share. I honestly can’t imagine a better way to spend a Saturday morning than talking about Stormy Kromer with people as excited about the brand as I am!

As soon as the weather warms up, however, Saturdays will be cycling days for me and we’ll have someone else staffing the store. Don’t worry though, the cycling season is pretty short and come fall, I plan to be back.

Come to think of it…this may be a glimpse of my retirement job. Maybe a new store with a coffee shop, Stormy Kromer products and free stories to all who want to hear them. Sounds pretty good to me.